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The Best of Both Worlds, Part II (episode)
With Captain Picard assimilated by the Borg, the enemy is able to totally vanquish a Starfleet/Klingon armada at Wolf 359, leaving Riker in command of the Enterprise and forced to go one on one with his former captain. (Season Premiere) Summary Teaser Hopes are dashed when the [[USS Enterprise (NCC-1701-D)|''Enterprise's]] jury-rigged deflector dish-weapon fails to stop the Borg, who have kidnapped Captain Picard and transformed him into Locutus. Shelby is stunned. Commander Riker orders to cease fire on the weapon, and wonders how they were able to adapt so quickly. Locutus then informs the crew that Picard's knowledge was added to the Borg's, and that they were thus prepared for all courses of action that the ''Enterprise was preparing to take. He then notes a chilling reminder that their resistance is hopeless, while addressing Riker as "Number One". Act One The Borg then set course for Earth with the Enterprise unable to follow due to damage resulting from using the deflector weapon. Admiral Hanson informs that their engagement has bought them time to assemble a fleet of forty starships at Wolf 359. The Klingons are sending ships to assist, and Hansen thought of communicating with the Romulans. Shelby informs Hansen that the Borg would be ready, but Hansen rejects her warning. He officially awards Riker a field promotion to captain. At the same time, the Borg have tapped into Picard's knowledge of Starfleet defenses and Human nature. A single tear is his only reaction to the DNA rewrites and bio-implants that are assimilating his body. Meanwhile, as Riker and Shelby are discussing repair progress in engineering, the Enterprise receives word from the Starfleet armada at Wolf 359. As Admiral Hanson is relaying news that "the fight does not go well," the signal is abruptly cut off. Act Two As the Enterprise completes repairs and heads for Wolf 359, Captain Riker "reluctantly" promotes Shelby to First Officer. The crew discuss several possible methods for fighting the Borg, including heavy graviton beams, nanites, and phaser upgrades, but all possibilities appear to be long shots at best. Riker's pessimism can be heard even in his encouragements that "our efforts in the coming battle will justify Captain Picard's faith in all of us." Guinan, realizing that Riker's attitude is filtering down through the crew, visits him in the ready room and insists that the only way to beat Locutus and save Picard is for Riker to let go of Picard and throw away everything the captain would have done. As she leaves and Riker ponders his new role as captain, the Enterprise arrives at Wolf 359. Riker takes the ship to the battle coordinates, only to find a battlefield strewn with destroyed Federation ships. Within hours, the Borg cube had completely obliterated the entire armada at Wolf 359, killing Admiral Hanson as well as 11,000 more. Act Three With the knowledge that Locutus possesses Picard's tactical genius, Riker devises a strategy to retrieve Picard from the Borg cube. By separating the Enterprise, Riker anticipates that the Borg will completely ignore the saucer section and instead concentrate on destroying the more heavily-armed secondary hull. Riker, now on the Battle Bridge, stalls for time with fake negotiations with Locutus. Locutus realizes that their delay would not be successful and they would be destroyed if they intervened. Riker throws down the gauntlet telling Locutus to take their best shot, and orders to separate. After separation, both ships fire at the cube, which does nothing. The Borg then fire their tractor beam, but Riker evades the attack. Just as Riker predicted, the saucer section was being completely ignored. The primary hull fires an antimatter spread, masking the engine signature from a shuttlecraft carrying Data and Worf. This shuttle is able to penetrate the Borg electromagnetic field, allowing Data and Worf to beam to the cube, kidnap Locutus, and bring him back to the Enterprise, before the shuttle itself is blown away. Act Four Rather than fight the now-vulnerable saucer section, the Borg resume their course toward Earth. On the Enterprise, Locutus is revived and chastises Riker for putting a whole ship at risk to save just one person, and that the abduction will have no impact on their mission of conquest. Locutus surveys his surroundings for people and technology to assimilate. He coldly advises Worf that the Klingons will also be assimilated, to which Worf replies that they will never yield. Locutus blasts Worf's defiant tone stating that all would become one with the Borg. Data discovers that a series of subspace signals form the basis of the Borg Collective and goes to work on tapping into the Borg collective consciousness through Locutus. Riker then gets word that the Borg have entered Sector 001. Act Five As the Borg cube breaks through the Mars Defense Perimeter and is heading to Earth, too far ahead for the Enterprise to intercept in time, Data begins to interface with Locutus. After establishing several neural links, Data manages to establish a connection with Picard. At this point, the Borg ship halts its approach to Earth, and the Enterprise crew discovers what they believe to be the Borg's Achilles' heel: their interdependency. Data attempts to implant commands into the collective consciousness to disarm the ship but is unsuccessful. The Borg attacks the ship in a final battle with the intent to finish the Enterprise off. Just as Riker is about to give up hope and ram the Borg ship, Picard fights through to give Data one simple Borg network command: "Sleep". Data successfully implants a command that causes the Borg cube to activate its regenerative cycle and power down. Shelby leads an away team to the cube to investigate, and they discover that it is experiencing power feedback – either a deliberate self-destruct sequence to prevent Data from gaining further access, or an accidental result from regenerating when unnecessary. As the away team returns and the Enterprise moves away, the power feedback destroys the Borg cube, saving humanity from the Borg. Free from the Borg's control, a shaky Picard begins his rehabilitation, thankful for his escape but deeply troubled by his experiences. With the Enterprise preparing for refits at Earth Station McKinley and its captain safely returned, Shelby returns to Starfleet to help in the rebuilding effort and Riker resumes his post as First Officer, noting now that he has a few options on the table for his next job, reminding both Picard and Shelby that his career plans are his own business. Finally alone in his ready room, Picard stands at his window and looks out at Earth, in the dark sea of space, forever changed, wondering how close he had come to being the instrument of humanity's demise. Memorable Quotes "The Borg have neither honor nor courage. That is our greatest advantage." : - Worf "We would like time to prepare our people for assimilation." "Preparation is irrelevant. Your people will be assimilated as easily as Picard has been. Your attempt at a delay will not be successful, Number One. We will proceed to Earth. And if you attempt to intervene, we will destroy you." "Then take your best shot, Locutus, because we are about to intervene." : - Riker and Locutus "What would you have done?" : - Riker addressing Picard's empty chair in the ready room "You must let him go, Riker. It's the only way to beat him. The only way to save him." : - Guinan "Worf, Klingon species - a warrior race. You too will be assimilated." "The Klingon Empire will ''never yield!" "''Why do you resist? We only wish to raise quality of life for all species." "I like my 'species' the way it is!" "A narrow vision. You will become one with the Borg. You will all become one with the Borg." : - Locutus of Borg and Worf "The knowledge and experience of the human, Picard, is part of us now. It has prepared us for all possible courses of action. Your resistance is hopeless, Number One." : - Locutus of Borg "Discussion is irrelevant. There are no terms. You will disarm all weapons and escort us to sector zero-zero-one where we will begin the assimilation of your culture and technology." : - Locutus "What do you remember?" "Everything... including some brilliantly unorthodox tactics by a former first officer of mine." : - Riker and the newly-restored Picard Background Information * Prior to the taping of "The Best of Both Worlds, Part II", LeVar Burton had surgery and his scenes were carefully edited from stock footage. Several of his major lines were rewritten for Colm Meaney, which is why Chief O'Brien was one of the main characters working to restore Captain Picard. * Piller himself did not expect to return to TNG and therefore found himself working on the final details of the plot just days before filming began - more specifically, using the Borg's interdependency against them. (ST:TNG Companion) * Wolf 359 itself is the real-life third-closest system to Sol after the Alpha Centauri system and Barnard's Star, 7.6 light years away. In the Star Trek universe, it would be a 36 hour trip at warp 9. Sets * While the episodes took place roughly within the same few days, production of and Part II were actually separated by the summer hiatus, during which time subtle changes were made to sets and costumes. Thus, when the second episode begins, minute details seem to have miraculously changed in the blink of an eye – most noticeably different are the lighting on the main bridge and Beverly Crusher's hair and uniform. * Additionally, the blue tinge to the transporter "shimmer" effect has gone, leaving a white/silver color and smaller more refined "particles". * In order to show Picard being turned ghostly white by the Borg probe, the color scheme was turned off, making the film black and white. Picard's upper garment and mechanical implants are all black in order to disguise the loss of color in the picture. The beam, probe, and probe light are later edited to make their color seem to remain constant. * This is the last TNG episode to feature the saucer separation sequence and the Enterprise battle bridge (heavily remodeled since its last appearance in Season One's ). Firsts * This episode (and its predecessor) was the first in Trek to use the navigational deflector in such a way, a trend that would go on to become a staple of later episodes including , , , , , several episodes of Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, Voyager and even ''Enterprise'''s Season 3 finale . Models * As the Enterprise travels through the aftermath of the battle at Wolf 359, several of the destroyed ships are actually Enterprise concept models built for the ill-fated Star Trek: Planet of the Titans (not Star Trek: Phase II as so often stated). There are also remnants of the "destroyed" refitted Enterprise from , as well as several new "kit-bash" starships including the ''Cheyenne''-class, ''Challenger''-class, ''Freedom''-class, ''Niagara''-class, ''New Orleans''-class, and ''Nebula''-class. The latter would go on to appear as a fully-realized design in later in the season. * The shots of the saucer section and the stardrive section mark the last time new footage of the six-foot Enterprise model would be shot until Star Trek: Generations. Stock footage of the model was used for the separation sequence itself, and would continue to be used throughout the show's run. * The Mars Defense Perimeter ships, seen as the Borg ship approaches Mars, were based on the submarine model used in The Hunt For Red October, dubbed by the staff the "Blue-gray October". Links to/from other episodes and series * While the Battle of Wolf 359 would go unseen (except for its aftermath) due to budgetary reasons, portions of the battle were recreated two and a half years later for the DS9 pilot . * In the Star Trek: Deep Space Nine pilot episode, , the [[USS Saratoga (NCC-31911)|USS Saratoga]] was lost at the battle at Wolf 359, as Benjamin Sisko escaped with his son but lost his wife. * In a later episode, , Admiral Norah Satie would state the loss at Wolf 359 as 39 starships and nearly 11,000 lives, while Shelby had said the fleet would be back up in "less than a year"; Starfleet would continue to prove shorthanded all the way through Season 5's . * Worf and Miles O'Brien recall the events of this episode in Deep Space Nine's own fourth season premiere, . O'Brien tells Worf that he thought that they would all end up assimilated like Picard. * While the Borg force during this episode appeared to be only one cube, later episodes of Voyager including , would seem to indicate that Humans were not only assimilated at Wolf 359, but also taken back to Borg space (see Laura). This seems hard to fathom as the only Borg ship seen in the episode was destroyed. The Borg Queen ( ) would also later claim to be present at the Battle of Wolf 359, despite the fact that she acknowledged the destruction of that ship and all the Borg on it. This however, may be the result of multiple Borg Queen clones as implied in later episodes and films. However, the queen comments in First Contact that the Human mind cannot comprehend what she was saying and that it can be inferred that the Borg have some technology that allows them to transport across entire quadrants or dimensions. This idea is supported in several Trek novels. There is also the consideration that the Borg have scooped out entire colonies and one could infer that they would assimilate the inhabitants. * At the end of the episode, a conversation is held between Shelby and Riker about the future careers of both officers with Shelby stating that Riker could soon have his choice of any ship in the fleet to Captain. Riker would not in fact become a Captain for nearly a decade later, in . Shelby however is referenced as a Captain in meaning that she became a Captain before Riker did. * While not technically a sequel to this episode, the following episode to air, , dealt with the repercussions of the events seen here, including the repairs to the Enterprise and Picard's personal trauma; though, as seen in First Contact, Picard would never fully recover. Reaction * While several sci-fi publications have voted "The Best of Both Worlds" Star Trek's finest and even in some cases one of science-fiction television's finest pieces, writer Michael Piller and director Cliff Bole have both stated that they felt Part II was a letdown after the strong build up of Part I. (ST:TNG Companion) Awards and honors *This episode won two Emmy Awards. Only four other episodes of Trek have won this many. It was nominated for four, a distinction it shares with only three other episodes. It won for Outstanding Sound Editing for a Series and Outstanding Sound Mixing for a Drama Series and was also nominated for Outstanding Art Direction for a Series and Outstanding Achievement in Special Visual Effects. * This episode was featured in the Star Trek: The Next Generation Viewers Choice Marathon. Video and DVD releases *Original UK VHS release (two-episode tapes, CIC Video): Volume 38, . *As part of the UK VHS collection Star Trek: The Next Generation - Borg Box: *In feature-length form: **As part of the UK VHS release Star Trek: The Next Generation - The Full Length TV Movies: Volume 2, **UK collectors' edition VHS: *UK re-release (three-episode tapes, Paramount Home Entertainment): Volume 4.1, . *As part of the TNG Season 4 DVD collection. *In feature-length form, as part of the Star Trek: The Next Generation - The Complete TV Movies collection. *As part of the Star Trek: Fan Collective - Borg collection. Apocrypha * A sequel to this episode appeared in comic book form in 1993. Star Trek novel writer Michael Jan Friedman wrote a four part story that featured Picard and the Enterprise going through a wormhole and entering a universe where they failed to rescue Picard from the Borg. Notable characters that appear included Chief Engineer Argyle, Commander Shelby, Ensign Ro, the O'Briens, and Wesley Crusher. Dr. Crusher was still at Starfleet Medical when the Borg took Earth. The issues were in DC's second TNG volume, numbers 47-50, "The Worst of Both Worlds, Part I!", "The Belly of the Beast!", "The Armies of the Night", and "And Death Shall Have No Dominion". Links and References Guest Stars *Elizabeth Dennehy as Lieutenant Commander Shelby *George Murdock as Admiral Hanson *Colm Meaney as Miles O'Brien *Whoopi Goldberg as Guinan *Todd Merrill as Lieutenant Gleason References 2367; ''Ahwahnee'', USS; android; antimatter spread; assimilation; assimilation chamber; battle bridge; Battle of Wolf 359; battle section; biobed; Borg; Borg Collective; Borg cube; ''Buran'', USS; ''Challenger'' class; ''Chekov'', USS; ''Cheyenne'' class; cutting beam; Danula II; deflector dish; DNA; docking latch; Earth; Earth Station McKinley; electromagnetic field; emergency transporter armband; ''Enterprise'', USS (NCC-1701-D); Federation history; ''Firebrand'', USS; ''Freedom''-class; Jupiter Outpost 92; ''Kotoi''; ''Kyushu'', USS; ''Liberator'', USS; Mars; Mars Defense Perimeter; ''Melbourne'', USS; microcircuit fiber implant; multimodal reflection sorting; nanites; nanotechnology; ''Nebula''-class; neuroendocrine; ''New Orleans''-class; New Providence; ''Niagara''-class; Number one; phaser; plasma coolant; ''Princeton'', USS; Saturn; saucer section; saucer separation; Sector 001; self-destruct; shields; ''Springfield''-class; Starfleet Academy marathon; starships at Wolf 359; ''Tolstoy'', USS; tractor beam; transporter; type-7 shuttlecraft; United Federation of Planets; warp core |next= }} Best of Both Worlds, Part II, The de:Angriffsziel Erde es:The Best of Both Worlds, Part II nl:The Best of Both Worlds, Deel II